CNN's Monthly Power Rankings: October, 2018

On Monday CNN published their fourth "monthly power rankings" list of potential Democratic presidential candidates, which is mostly unchanged from last month. In fact the first five names on the list are exactly the same. (See last month's list here.)

Here are the rankings for October:

1. Elizabeth Warren (last month: 1)
2. Kamala Harris (last month: 2)
3. Joe Biden (last month: 3)
4. Kirstin Gillibrand (last month: 4)
5. Bernie Sanders (last month: 5)
6. Amy Klobuchar (last month: 7)
7. Cory Booker (last month: 6)
8. Eric Garcetti (last month: 8)
9. Steve Bullock (last month: 9)
10. Michael Bloomberg (last month: not on the list)

Eric Holder is included as an "honorable mention." Who was #10 last month? Texas Congressman Beto O'Rourke, who is running against Ted Cruz for a senate seat. CNN explains their rankings here.

There's also some news concerning a couple of candidates on our master list. Julian Castro said he's seriously thinking about running and in fact is "likely to do it." That's not enough to put him on the Declared Candidates list but I'll keep my eye on Mr. Castro. He spoke to CBS News this morning, see that interview here.

I'm also removing one name from the list. Jason Kander, who was running for mayor of Kansas City this year and was seen as a potential presidential candidate in 2020, has withdrawn from the mayor's race for health reasons:

"I truly appreciate all the support so many people in Kansas City and across the country have shown me since I started this campaign. But I can't work on myself and run a campaign the way I want to at the same time, so I'm choosing to work on my depression," he continued.  

Kander served as an Army Intelligence Officer in Afghanistan and returned from his tour about 11 years ago. He said that his "tour over there still impacted me every day."

... "I'm done hiding this from myself and the world. When I wrote in my book that I was lucky to not have PTSD, I was just trying to convince myself. And I wasn't sharing the full picture. I still have nightmares. I am depressed," Kander said. (Read the CNN story here.)

I give Mr. Kander enormous credit. For a politician to make this kind of admission is incredibly difficult and incredibly courageous. He's only 37. I'm cheering for him to get the help he needs and when he's ready, he can figure out what he wants to do next. For now, however, I'm moving him to the I'm Not Running list, leaving 36 names on the Potential list.

Potential Democratic Candidates:

1. Michael Avenatti (Lawyer, represents Stormy Daniels and others) added Oct. 1
2. Joe Biden (Former VP)
3. Michael Bloomberg (Former mayor of New York City)
4. Peter Buttigieg (Mayor of South Bend, Indiana) added Sept. 8
5. Cory Booker (New Jersey senator)
6. Sherrod Brown (Ohio senator)
7. Jerry Brown (Governor of California)
8. Steve Bullock (Governor of Montana)
9. Julian Castro (Former secretary of Housing and Urban Development) 
10. Mark Cuban (Businessman, owner of the Dallas Mavericks)
11. Bill de Blasio (Mayor of New York City)
12. Tulsi Gabbard (Congresswoman from Hawaii) added Sept. 8
13. Eric Garcetti (Mayor of Los Angeles) 
14. Kirsten Gillibrand (New York senator)
15. Luis Gutierrez (Congressman from Illinois)
16. Kamala Harris (California senator)
17. John Hickenlooper (Governor of Colorado) 
18. Eric Holder (Former Attorney General)
19. Robert Iger (Businessman, Chairman/CEO of Disney)
20. Jay Inslee (Governor of Washington)
21. Tim Kaine (Virginia senator, 2016 VP nominee)
22. Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota senator)
23. Mitch Landrieu (Mayor of New Orleans)
24. Terry McAuliffe (Former governor of Virginia)
25. Jeff Merkley (Oregon senator)
26. Seth Moulton (Congressman from Massachusetts) 
27. Chris Murphy (Connecticut senator)
28. Martin O'Malley (Former governor of Maryland, ran in 2016 primaries)
29. Beto O'Rourke (Texas Congressman, running for the U.S. Senate) added Sept. 13
30. Deval Patrick (Former governor of Massachusetts)
31. Tim Ryan (Congressman from Ohio) added Sept. 8
32. Bernie Sanders (Vermont senator, registered Independent, ran in 2016 primaries)
33. Howard Schultz (Businessman, former CEO of Starbucks)
34. Tom Steyer (Businessman) added Sept. 8
35. Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts senator)
36. Mark Zuckerberg (Businessman, founder of Facebook)

Declared Democratic Candidates, in order of their announcement 

John Delaney (July 28, 2017)
Andrew Yang (November 6, 2017) added Sept. 8

I'm Not Running

Oprah Winfrey
Andrew Cuomo
Sheryl Sandberg, added Sept. 8
Jason Kander, added Oct. 17

Days until the midterm election: 20
Days until the presidential election: 748